The New XMen
by sunsetbabe17
Summary: Years later the cure is found not to be permanent and with the fear of Magneto arising again a new XMen team is formed.
1. The Team

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot. Co-written with ms. marie and my other sister.

The Team 

Rogue and Kitty were sitting on the leather sofa in the rec room, watching a soap opera. A breaking new report came up, Kitty groaned.

"And just when they finally realized their true feelings for each other! Now I'm gonna miss the sex scene," Kitty groaned. Rogue just laughed at her. The two had become fast friends after Rogue realized Kitty was not out to steal her boyfriend from her.

"Breaking News, I'm Tracey Gove here in New York, and you all remember that mutant cure? Well, turns out it wasn't a permanent cure after all! Now the government is worried about mutant terrorists, like Magneto, coming back. Now here's Boliver Trask with his new Sentinel Program…" Kitty and Rogue looked to each other as they turned off the T.V. and ran to go inform Storm. They rushed into her office and a breathless Kitty explained what they had heard on the news report.

The headmaster tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the elevator to make its descent. She briskly made her way down the hall as soon as the doors opened, her heels clacking as she strode to the end of the hallway, towards the infamous "Danger Room". She placed her palm on the scanner.

"Access granted," the monotonous voice sounded.

"Gee, thanks," the headmaster muttered under her breath. The sight that greeted her upon walking in was not an unfamiliar one. John and Piotr stood seemingly having another one of their arguments while the students, who were used to this sort of behavior from their teachers stood next to them socializing. The headmaster made her presence known by marching right up to them with her clacking heels for added emphasis. Upon taking notice of her presence the two feuding adults smartly shut their mouths.

"What brings you to our neck of the woods Stormy?" The aussie asked her. The students quieted down in an attempt to eavesdrop, especially considering that Storm didn't usually show up at Danger Room training.

"Since you two don't appear to be doing anything, then I suppose you'll have no trouble joining the rest of us in an important meeting," Storm said, replying to John's earlier question.

"You heard the lady! Hit the showers!" John yelled to the students. With a quick nervous glance to each other, John and Piotr quickly followed Storm who was already practically out the door. The three remained silent all the way up to the headmaster's office. John had been curious and tempted to ask Storm what was going on, but refrained from doing so because of the serious look on her face. As the three walked in, they took notice that all the other teachers and staff were already gathered there.

"Why are we always the last to be informed?" John muttered.

"Aww… feeling unloved?" Rogue laughed.

Storm took her place in her headmaster's chair. After the professor died, it was supposed to be Scott that took his place, but with both him and Jean dead, Storm was left the position. Left with the choice of closing the school or becoming the new headmaster, she chose the latter.

To her left sat Hank, the school's resident doctor and a teacher as well. After realizing he no longer desired to be in politics, he came back to assist his longtime friend, Storm, in running the school. Next to him was Rogue, who due to the cure no longer had any powers, but still stayed to help teach. Next to her sat Bobby. Him and Rogue were still dating and going strong. There's a bet going throughout the school on when he'll pop the question, but no one really knows. Next to him sat Warren, who had come to the Institute after the cure disaster and had stayed since then to become a teacher. Next to him sat John, a.k.a. the pyromaniac. Nobody trusted him to teach a class so he stuck to training in the Danger Room. It took a while for everyone to trust him again when he came back, but things have changed and now he his part of the family. In the chair next to him was Piotr, who was a teacher and assisted John in Danger Room training, sitting with Kitty, also a teacher, perched in his lap. The two were recently engaged. As Storm glanced around the room, as usual, she noticed one person was missing. After Jean's death, Logan vanished and no one has heard from him since.

"So what's the crisis Stormy?" John asked irritated.

Storm relayed the news she had heard from Rogue and Kitty to the rest of the staff.

"I think it's time to bring back the X-Men," Storm said solemnly.

"I think it's a great idea, but don't you think we are a little old for the rough and tumble team?" Hank brought up.

"Well we could make a new team. I mean, this is a whole school filled with mutants. We pick some who want to be a part of a team, and we train them to be our X-Men," Kitty suggested. Looking around the room, they all seemed to think this was a good idea.

"Who would you pick?" John asked. Storm left the room and came back with a stack of manilla folders.

"Well we go through these and decide who has the most potential and we seek them out," she handed out the folders. "I'd say a team of about ten would be best."

"How about we each pick a student we like, then we decide on who else. And everyone has to agree," Kitty suggested. The rest nodded their heads agreeing. After going through the folders for a while, they all regrouped to make their decisions.

"Well, I'll like start," Kitty said, bubbling with excitement. "My pick is Sara Thompson. She's 16, with invisibility powers. Those could be very handy, and she seems like a dedicated student, I have her in one of my classes."

"Okay, how about you Hank?" Storm turned to the blue beast.

"Well I've chosen a boy who is a very exceptional student. He's 17, his name is Jake Stanton, his powers are electricity. I think he would be a very beneficial addition to the team." They all nodded and turned to Piotr for his choice.

"I've chosen Morgan Peters. She's 18, with aquakinesis. I think we could easily train her for the team."

"And you Bobby?"

"I've picked Dani Vancouver, age 16, she has super speed. She's got a bit of an attitude, but I think we can deal."

"Well, I've picked Christopher Hitchcock. He's 17 with the ability to speed up molecules. Meaning he can blow stuff up, so he has a good offensive power for the team," Rogue stated.

"Warren? Who've you chosen?"

"I think Nathan James would be a good choice. He has shown great leadership qualities in class, and his abilities are amazing. He's 18, and he can fly, he has super strength, and to top it off he's pretty much invulnerable so we wouldn't have to worry about him getting hurt."

"John?"

"Andy Carson. He's 18 and a pyrokinetic. Enough said." Kitty and Rogue rolled their eyes at the blonde.

"Very well. I can't pick just one, two stick out for me. Marissa Moore, 17, and Michele Ericson, 17. Marissa is a telepath, and Michele is telekinetic." Everyone thought of Jean. "I think they both would be very useful." No one disagreed.

"Well that makes nine. I think we should go for one more. Who do you think?" Storm questioned. After much pondering, Hank came up with a student.

"How about Ben Everet? He's 17, and has a great defensive power. He can produce shields."

"I think that's good, then they'd have a good defense as well as a good offense," Storm said grabbing the folders to return them to her filing cabinet. "Lets gather the troops."

"Yeah, lets tell the kiddies!" John said clapping his hands and grinning.

"Would Nathan James, Ben Everet, Morgan Peters, Jake Stanton, Michele Ericson, Andy Carson, Dani Vancouver, Christopher Hitchcock, Sara Thompson, and Marissa Moore please report to the headmaster's office," Storm announced over the new PA system they had recently built.

"You called," Dani stated rushing in a second after she heard her name. The abruptness and suddenness of her arrival caused Storm to jump and gasp.

"Yeah… uh just take a seat while we wait for the others to arrive," Storm said and Dani took a seat wondering what this was all about.

"Shit! Do ya think they know?" Ben asked frantically looking around as he heard his name. He and his friend Evan were in one of the girl's rooms filling a bottle of shampoo with pink hair dye.

"Nah, how could they? It's probably something else," Evan reassured him. "Go, I'll finish up."

"Alright see ya." Ben left the room and made his way to the headmaster's office. He knocked and Storm answered the door.

"You wanted to see me," Ben said sheepishly, still not sure if he had been caught or not.

"Yeah, and don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything," she said noticing how Ben seemed to think he was in trouble. "Just take a seat."

"Ooh, you're in trouble," someone shouted.

"What did ya do now Christopher?" someone else asked and the boy in question just shrugged and stood up.

"Maybe Storm just wants to have a private chat with me," he said and waggled his eyebrows causing his friends to laugh as he left the room and went to the headmaster's office. Without knocking he entered the office and took a seat as instructed by Storm. Jake closed the book he was reading and left the library to go to Storm's office. He knocked and was ushered in and told to take a seat. Nathan put the weight down that he was previously lifting and wiped his sweaty face with a towel. Taking a quick sniff he decided to change before he went to see the headmaster. With a fresh pair of clothes on he knocked and was led into the office. He pulled up a chair next to Jake.

"Hey, any idea what's going on?" Michele asked Marissa as they met on their way to the headmaster's office.

"Not a clue," Marissa answered. Both girls went to the office together and sat with the group of teens already there. Sara Thompson exited her room and made her way to the headmaster's office upon hearing her name on the PA. She was told to take a seat like the others. Morgan told her friends she'd see them later and left the rec room heading towards Storm's office. Storm let her in and told her to take a seat so she pulled up a chair next to Nathan and Michele. She gave them a questioning look wondering what was going on, but they both shrugged not having any idea as to what this was about.

"You owe me 10 bucks," Andy shouted to his friend Jace after sinking the eight ball in the corner pocket and then Andy raced out of the room. He poked his head into the office and came in all the way after Storm said to come in. He looked around and grabbed the only empty seat, which was next to Dani.

"I'm sure you all are wondering why we called you down here," Storm started now that all of the kids were present.

"Kinda yeah," Dani said. She was curious and had been patiently waiting for a long time to find out why she was here. Storm ignored Dani's impatient remark and continued,

"You all have heard of the X-Men before right?" They all nodded not sure where this was headed. "It seems that the cure is not permanent and we fear that Magneto may rise to power again and stir up trouble. So we wanted to create a new team," Storm stated.

"So what does that have to do with us?" Dani asked clearly not getting it, but she wasn't the only one. None of the teens understood what she was implying.

"What I'm trying to say is that we want you to be the new X-Men. You will be properly trained and will learn to work together as a team," Storm explained.

"What?" Jake shouted.

"Cool!" Christopher said, and the others just gawked and sat in silence.

"You can have a minute to think this over and tell us your decision. You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Storm quickly assured them. So they sat there in silence, contemplating what they wanted to do. The silence was broken by Christopher jumping up and saying,

"I'm in."

"Me too," Andy said.

"I'd like to be a part of the team too," Jake stated.

"Heck, why not I have nothing better to do," Dani exclaimed.

"I'll join," Morgan said.

"I will too," Nathan stated.

"Me three, err… seven," Michele answered.

"I'm all for it," Ben announced.

"Yeah me too," Sara jumped in.

"I don't know," Marissa started not sure if she was up to the task of becoming an X-Men. But then making up her mind she said, "I'm in."

And that was the beginning of a new X-Men team.


	2. Bonding

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot. Co-written with ms. marie and my other sister.

Bonding 

Storm had left them alone, telling them to get acquainted with one anther, since none of them were really "buddy-buddy". Some of them only recognized each other from passing glances in the halls; it was a big school, with many students. They barely knew each other; now they were supposed to be a team? Don't know how that'll work.

"So…" Dani started, striving to break the silence that had descended upon the room in the absence of the white-haired weather witch. It didn't quite work, as the teens continued to stare nervously around the room.

"Well, why don't we start off by sharing our powers?" Nathan suggested. They all gleefully told the others what they could do, most giving a little show. That is until Christopher accidentally blew up one of Ms. Munroe's expensive vases. He just threw away the pieces and hoped that she wouldn't notice the ugly thin was gone.

"Hey, I just did her a favor. Who would want that ugly thing anyway?" Marissa just rolled her eyes at the immature boy's antics. He winked at her.

All of a sudden Gym Class Heroes, "Cupids Chokehold", began playing. Nathan scrambled for his pocket, pulling out a silver Razor.

"Hey."

"Now?" Nathan glanced around at the other teens. "I'm kinda busy, Jess." He sighed, listening to his girlfriend prattle on.

"Okay, fine. Just let me go get ready, then we can go."

"Kay, love you too," Nathan hung up the phone and ran a hand over his tired face.

"Girlfriend?" Dani pried, curious.

"Yeah, I'm sorry guys, I gotta go," Nathan stated, getting up out of his seat.

"She pick that ring tone too?" Christopher asked. Nathan grimaced a little, giving the boy his answer. "Whpsha!" Christopher made a motion of cracking a whip as Nathan scurried out the door.

Down the hall, all the adults sat watching the kids on a TV screen. As they watched Nathan leave the room and the room fall silent, Storm grew frustrated.

"This is never going to work," Storm sighed while running a hand through her hair.

"Well you can't exactly just throw them in a room together and just force them to become friends," Rogue reasoned.

"Oh yeah?" Storm asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"So…" Dani said in an attempt to break the silence. No one responded so she decided to stop trying. Just as the silence started to become awkward, Kitty walked through the door.

"Hey guys!" Kitty said sitting in Storm's chair, "So Storm sent me in here to get you guys talking while she "worked out some details", whatever that means. So how about we play a little game?"

No one replied.

"Okay,… I'll take that as a yes," Kitty decided.

"What kinda game?" Dani asked to break the silence.

"Since none of you guys know each other were going to play a describing game to see what you guys think of each other," Kitty told them.

"So how do we play?" Ben asked curiously.

"Well, we'll start with Dani," she said turning to Dani, "How would you describe Sara?"

"Geek," Dani replied, not missing a beat.

"Thanks," Sara muttered sarcastically.

"Okay, Sara how would you describe Jake?" Kitty asked.

"Shy," Sara decided.

"Jake how would you describe Michele?" Kitty asked.

"Hmm… jock?" Jake suggested.

"Michele, how would you describe Andy?"

"Man-whore," Michele declared.

"Wow, that was so sweet," Andy replied sarcastically.

"But it was true," Michele quipped

"Andy, how would you describe Marissa?"

"Prissy," he said still glaring at Michele.

"Marissa, how would you describe Ben?"

"Goofy," Marissa laughed.

"Ben, how would you describe Christopher?"

"Jackass," Ben replied while grinning.

But within seconds Ben was being hauled up to his feet by Christopher, who had a firm grip on the front of his shirt.

"Enough!" shouted Storm who walked in and pulled Christopher back to his chair.

"I guess that's enough of that game," Kitty muttered.

"How do you guys possibly expect to be a team if you're at each other's throats all the time? Now maybe you won't be the best of friends, but I'm not asking you to be. All I want you to be is teammates. Now I'm tired of this behavior, you kids will learn to tolerate each other. Which is why you're going on a trip," Storm announced.

"Really, where?" Dani exclaimed, excited to go somewhere cool and to have fun. The others just gave Storm a quizzical look, wondering where this was going.

"It's a surprise," Storm said, much to Dani's disappointment.

"Is it warm? Is it cold?" Dani asked.

"I am not saying anything," Storm zipped her lips shut.

"Oh come on, I need to know what to pack," Dani whined.

"You are leaving at 7 tomorrow morning," Storm informed them, and at the mention of the early time groans were heard throughout the room.

"Why so early?" Dani whined again, thinking about all the beauty sleep she'd be missing.

"You will make up your school work when you get back," Storm said and everyone's face fell. They had been hoping to be excused from the work they missed.

"Oh, and make sure someone tells Nathan," Storm said, "and you're dismissed. I will see you tomorrow bright and early."

Everyone got up and quickly left after saying their goodbyes.

It was the next morning and Storm sat in her office waiting for the kids to arrive. Dani zoomed in carrying the backpack and the duffle bag she was given to pack her things in. She immediately plunked herself in a seat to wait for the others. Sara was the second to arrive. Her hair was still wet from her recent shower and it was in a messy ponytail. Jake walked in looking wide awake and Dani figured that he must have grabbed a cup of coffee before coming down, or he was a morning person, which is just plain weird in her opinion. Ben was the next to walk in and promptly ran to the couch that was in the corner and laid down and started snoring, taking up the whole couch. Michele stumbled in with her bags and dropped them on the floor and decided to go down with them. This was not how she planned to start her Saturday. After Michele, Christopher waltzed in and kicked Ben's legs off the couch so he could have a seat.

"Wha.." Ben said waking up at the sudden jolt. He then readjusted himself and fell back asleep.

Morgan quietly walked in, set her bags down, and sat in a vacant chair. Marissa walked in and then pulled out her eyeliner to finish her makeup. Then, Andy came in with bed head hair and droopily dropped into a chair. Storm glanced at her watch and it read 7:15.

"Where's Nathan?" she asked. Everyone just sat there and shrugged. "Did anyone tell him about the trip?" she questioned, a little irritated at their lack of a response. At this everyone's head shot up and they all looked at each other and then there was a chorus of,

"No."

"Just great," Storm sighed and threw her hands up in the air exasperated. She then left the room to go get Nathan. A few minutes later Storm came back, Nathan in tow. He still looked half asleep and he was very angry that no one had told him about this trip.

"Okay now that everyone's here," Storm began. "Kitty and John will go with you guys to supervise. So follow me," Storm stood up and left the office with the kids dragging behind her. They boarded the jet and saw Kitty and John in the pilot and co-pilot seats. Kitty told them to take a seat and buckle up. Then, the jet roared to life and the kids were off to their unknown destination. Most just leaned back in their seats and go some shut eyes, unlike Dani whose face was glued to the window.

A couple hours later Kitty announced, "We will be landing shortly. Please put your seat belts on, seats in the upright position, and your trays locked in place." She giggled after she finished, having always wanted to say that. They landed in, what to them, looked like a forest.

"This is where we're staying," Dani asked bewildered.

"Yup," John stated and threw them some tents. "These are for you, and we will be on the jet."

"What?" Ben asked, astonished that they would leave them in the middle of the woods.

"Great, what a nice trip," Andy muttered.

"I guess we should set up the tents," Nathan suggested.

"Um guys, there are only 5 tents," Sara pointed out.

"Great, we have to share tents too," Marissa said, not really liking this trip already.

"Hey, a guy has to share with a girl, I'm in," Andy said giving all the girls a wink.

"Eww, no way," Michele exclaimed, Andy just grinned at her.

"How about Nathan shares a tent with a girl since he already has a girlfriend so we can trust that he won't try anything," Michele suggested. The rest of the girls agreed and turned to Nathan.

"Alright, I'll share a tent with a girl," he relented.

"So who wants to share a tent with Nathan?" Marissa asked. The girls just looked at one another hoping for someone else to offer to share a tent with Nathan.

"Fine, short stick goes," Michele said and a couple of small sticks flew into her hand. One by one the girls took a stick and low and behold the one that was left with Michele was the shortest.

"Well, I guess I'm sharing a tent with Nathan," with that Michele and Nathan went to go set up their tent. Nathan did most of the work with Michele insisting that he was the man and he should be a gentleman and set up the tent.

"Dibs on Sara," Dani shouted and zoomed over to set up their tent. Sara rolled her eyes and followed her.

"Guess that means we're together," Morgan said looking at Marissa.

"Yeah," and they walked off to set up their tent.

"Jake and I will share a tent," Ben exclaimed not really wanting to share with Andy or Christopher. Andy and Christopher went to set up the last tent.

The five tents were all set up in somewhat of a circle, with a large space for a fire in the middle, which is where all of the teens congregated after setting up their respective tents. They stood there waiting for direction, unsure of what they were supposed to do now. Then, Kitty and John joined them. Kitty glanced nervously around at all the faces, and pulling her resolve together, clapped her hands and gave them a big smile.

"Well, uh, I guess you can all do whatever you want for the rest of the day. Hang out, whatever. Just meet back here when it starts to get dark." John and her went back to the jet, doing what the students could only guess. They just stood there for a while, just staring at each other, waiting for someone to speak. Ben finally broke the silence,

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" he asked.

"How 'bout we go swimming? I think I saw a lake back there," Sara suggested, gesturing somewhere to the right.

"Okay, sure," the rest nodded in agreement.

"Good thing I decided to pack my bathing suit, ya know, I wasn't sure if I was going to need it, but Storm just wouldn't tell me where we were going," Dani babbled before she sped off to change. She was the first one done, dressed in her white polka dotted blue bikini, with a dark blue towel with hibiscus flowers draped over her right shoulder, and a pair of large sunglasses perched a top her blonde head. She tapped her foot with her arms crossed, waiting for the others. They slowly trickled in, the boys wearing different varieties of swim trunks in solid colors, Hawaiian prints, and whatnot. The girls sported suits of many different colors and styles, though none wore a one-piece. They were well equipped with beach towels, sunglasses, and sunblock.

"So, which way to the lake?" Morgan asked, fixing the strap of her lavender suite as she spoke.

"This way, just follow me," Sara led the way through the trees to a large clearing with a sparkling lake.

"Wow, this looks nice," said Marissa, looking around her. The girls laid their towels down on the ground. Dani stood up after lathering herself with sunscreen. Since she was fair-skinned she burned pretty easily, and she did not want to look like a lobster later.

"Well, c'mon guys, lets hop in!" she cried, jumping in with a running start. The cold water shocked her at first, but it felt cool and refreshing after being in the heat. "Well, ya just gonna stand there?" The boys all jumped in, effectively soaking her under a tidal wave of water, with the rest of the girls following, except for Marissa. Marissa spritzed some tanning oil over herself, pulled on her shades, and laid back on her pink towel, eyes shut. Michele turned to her,

"Marissa, aren't you gonna join us?" Marissa got up on her elbows to look at the blonde.

"Nah, I think I'm just gonna soak up some rays, work on my tan." Michele shrugged,

"Okay, whatever you say." As she went back to splashing and dunking the boys. Morgan was using her power over the water to create waves and small whirlpools for their amusement. They were having lots of fun with each other, surprisingly. Andy stopped fooling around in the water and hopped out.

Marissa almost fell asleep, until she heard footsteps coming her way. But she didn't open her eyes until something blocked her sunlight and a few water droplets fell on her. Andy was standing above her. She sat up,

"You're blocking the sun, you mind?" she said, haughtily. He just smirked at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Ya know, you're looking a little pink," A little panicky, she pushed up her Chanel sunglasses and looked at her arms and legs.

"You jerk," she lightly smacked his leg when she realized that he was lying. He started chuckling,

"I think you need to cool off a little, the sun's addling your brain," he took a step towards her. She jumped up and took a step backwards, away from the approaching male.

"Don't you dare," she pointed her index finger at him for emphasis, still backing away.

"Oh, I dare," he said before making a grab for her. She dodged, and turned and ran, shrieking through her giggles. But, alas, he was faster than her and managed to catch her pretty quickly. He grabbed her around the waist and she shrieked as he threw her over his broad shoulder. She pounded on his back with her tiny fists, though it was futile.

"Put me down!" she cried, as they got closer to the lake. "Don't you dare, Andy! You'll regret it!" He snorted at that. He unceremoniously dropped her into the water. She gave a little screech when she came in contact with the cool liquid. She resurfaced, sputtering. "Ooh, you're so going to get it!" She angrily wiped her wet hair from her face.

So, all in all, their swim was pretty fun, with only one little incident where Andy tried to untie Marissa's top. But other than that, it was all good. Maybe the whole camping thing wouldn't be so bad after all. The teens all went back to their respective tents to dry off and change. ( Michele made Nathan stand outside while she changed.) It was soon dark, and they all gathered around a campfire that John and Kitty had started. Marissa arrived last, taking a seat next to Andy.

"So, you guys aren't going to make us sing campfire songs and tell us ghost stories, are you?" Andy asked warily. John snorted.

"Of course we aren't," he shot a nervous glance at Kitty, "we aren't, are we?" he asked, panicky. The perky brunette let out a laugh.

"Nah, don't worry. I think we are all a little too old for stuff like that."

"Actually, we kind of have a surprise for you guys," Kitty said clapping her hands.

"That's never good," Andy groaned.

"What kind of surprise?" Michele questioned hesitantly.

"Probably not one you guys are gonna like," John replied.

"Great," Dani muttered.

"Can I just tell you guys already?" Kitty huffed.

"Please do," Michele said gesturing with her hand.

"Well this little trip is first and foremost a bonding experience for you guys, but is secondly a bit of a competition," Kitty explained.

"What kind of competition?" Ben questioned.

"Well, you guys are gonna be split into teams of two and compete in challenges for points. At the end of this trip whichever team has the most points is the winner," John took over explaining.

"Ooh, what do we win?" Dani asked, bubbling with excitement.

"Haha, you're gonna win nothing because I'm gonna win," Ben laughed.

"You guys better get some sleep because your first challenge is tomorrow morning, bright and early. And we'll announce the teams in the morning, so off to bed," Kitty said with a bright smile.

"How early is early?" Marissa asked.

"Four o'clock," John announced.

"In the afternoon? That's not so bad," Ben said.

"… In the morning," Kitty tacked on.

"Ugh…" all the kids groaned.


	3. The First Challenge

Disclaimer: don't own anything except some characters and plot. Co-written with ms. marie and blue eyed chica 11.

The First Challenge 

"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

"Nathan, shut that dang rooster up!" Michele whined, throwing a pillow at Nathan.

"You!" he groaned throwing the pillow back at her.

"Cock-a-doodle-do! Rise and shine kiddies! Cock-a-doodle-do!" John shouted.

10 minutes later there wee 10 very tired, grumpy kids standing outside their tents.

"Morning kiddies!" John laughed.

The only response he got was a couple of groans and a few obscene gestures. He just laughed.

"Why are you so happy at four o'clock in the morning?" Dani growled at him.

"Coffee! Those magical little beans just brighten my day!" John explained.

"Alright! Alright everybody! " Kitty greeted getting off the jet.

"Aren't you guys excited? It's the morning of your first challenge. And you get to find out your teams," Kitty bubbled, " And none of you look excited."

"Let's just get on with this shin-dig," Ben groaned.

"Shin-dig? Who uses words like that anymore?" Dani complained.

"Why? Does it turn you on?" Ben asked wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Eeww…gross!" Dani cried shoving Ben.

"Anyway, yeah… on to the teams," Kitty interrupted. "I decided we should have boy-girl teams, that way all the teams are even."

"Well the team with Ben on it is gonna be down a guy," Dani laughed.

"Ouch! That one hurt my pride," Ben complained with a hand on his chest.

"Okay kiddies, lets stop with the bickering," John said.

"Okay so we're going to have color coded teams. Because well, it's cute," Kitty explained.

"What's so cute about you and your partner wearing the same color?" Michele asked.

"Because I said it's cute. Now would everyone stop interrupting me?" Kitty asked looking around. No one said anything. "Good."

"On the red team we have Jake and Morgan. On the blue team we have Nathan and Dani. On the pink team we have Ben and Sara. Green team is Andy and Marissa. And last but not least, we have Christopher and Michele on the purple team."

"At least I look good in green," Marissa commented.

"I think you look better not in the green, or anything at all for that matter," Andy said with a wink.

"Oh gross!" Marissa said giving him a playful shove.

"Why do I have to wear pink?" Ben complained.

"Anyway, here's your team t-shirts. Are you guys ready for your first challenge?" Kitty asked.

The only response was a chorus of groans.

"First put on these blind folds and then hop in the car," John directed.

"Wouldn't it be kind of hard to get in the car with a blind fold on?" Ben asked.

"Shut up!" was everyone's response.

Once they were all in the car, Kitty explained the challenge.

"Each team will be kicked out of the car at different places in the woods. Each place is the same distance from the camp. Then, you will have to find your way back to camp."

After being kicked out of the car, each pair was left alone in the big, scary woods with no idea where camp was.

"Alright," Nathan began, taking charge. "I'll fly in that direction and see if I can find camp and you can race along that way and look for camp," he said with a bunch of gesturing. "That way we can use our strengths and not slow each other down and cover more area."

"Sure, why not." Dani shrugged, she didn't have a plan of her own and his sounded good.

"Meet back here in 10," he said pointing at his watch.

"K," she said as Nathan turned to take off. "Wait! I don't have a watch, how will I know when to come back."

"Just come back in while then," he said with no other solution. And with that they zipped off. Nathan flew high above the trees and looked down searching for their campsite. But all he could see was the tops of the trees stretching for miles in every direction.

Dani raced through the woods, the scenery passing by in a blur of green and brown. _'Wait a second.' _ Dani stopped abruptly and backtracked a little. _'Camp!'_

"You do know that you have to come back with your partner." Kitty said matter of factly as John and her sat roasting marshmallows.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Dani said hurriedly and zipped away. _'Where is the meeting place?' _Dani thought lost now.

Sara and Ben just stood there for a while and Ben could see the wheels turning in her head. After a few minutes, she turned left and said, "This way." Ben just looked at her dumbstruck as to how she would know that. He then quickly shook himself out of his daze and sprinted to catch up to her.

"So got a plan?" Michele asked her partner after she surveyed their surroundings and came to the conclusion that she had no idea where they were.

"No," was Christopher's only response.

"Any ideas?"

"No"

"Know which direction camp is?"

"No"

"Know how to say something other than no," she said exasperated. He just shrugged and grinned which caused her to throw her hands up in the air and groan. Then, an idea came to her and both her and Christopher started to float high above the trees. At first he panicked not knowing what was going on, and then he tried to cover it up and act all cool.

"Next time warn me," he growled and Michele just laughed.

Dani finally found her way back to the meeting spot and found Nathan sitting on a rock patiently, at least she hoped, waiting for her.

"I found it," she quickly said hoping that if he were angry it would dissolve into happiness at the news that she found camp.

"Alright, that's great, lead the way then," Nathan happily exclaimed. Dani turned around and then quickly whipped back around to look at Nathan.

"Um… there's a little problem…" she nervously began.

"What?" Nathan asked wearily.

"I kina forgot the way," she rushed out looking at her feet.

"What?!" Nathan exploded, "Unbelievable!"

"Well, it's somewhere in that direction," Dani said pointing somewhere behind her.

Nathan then scooped her up in his arms and took to the air. Dani let out a gasp of surprise and clung to Nathan with a death grip.

"You better not drop me," she squeaked out.

Spotting camp Nathan picked up speed.

"Hey, there's Nathan and Dani," Christopher pointed out, actually being helpful for once.

"Lets follow 'em. It looks like they found camp," Michele deviously exclaimed and picked up speed hoping to catch the two.

After aimlessly wandering around, Jake and Morgan finally stumbled upon something to help them in their quest for camp,

"Footprints!"

"They look like human footprints," Jake exclaimed.

"Lets follow them," Morgan said gleefully, glad that they now had some means to find camp.

"Any ideas," Marissa questioned Andy.

"Nada," he answered, and then silence as the two sat there thinking.

"Couldn't you like read Kitty or John's mind and use it to find camp, you know like to find where they are and how to get there," Andy proposed, not sure if she could actually do that.

"I guess I could try," she stated, not really sure. After careful searching, she couldn't find John or Kitty anywhere. "I can't sense them at all. They either aren't in my range or have really strong mental walls." She stated dejectedly.

"How 'bout trying another team and seeing if they found camp," Andy exclaimed, not giving up hope just yet.

"Nathan and Dani are on their way to camp and we can follow them, but we won't reach camp first."

"That's okay as long as we get back to camp." Andy thought of his nice comfortable sleeping bag.

"Since I have to do all the work you can give me a piggy back there," Marissa rubbed her head and hopped onto his back.

"Fine, but you should really stop eating all those chips," he pretended that she was really heavy and that he was having trouble carrying her.

"Hey!" she smacked him on the arm.

Laughing they headed towards camp.

"Wow! Looks like you guys are the winners," Kitty announced as Dani and Nathan landed at the campsite.

"Yeah!"

"Woo-hoo!"

Dani and Nathan high fived each other. Immediately after, Michele and Christopher touch down at camp.

"Second place," John exclaimed.

Then, they all sat around the fire roasting marshmallows and waiting for the others to arrive. Much later, Andy and Marissa came into camp. Andy promptly dropped Marissa and collapsed on the ground from sheer exhaustion.

"Oh come on it wasn't that bad," Kitty retorted defensively as she saw Andy plop down on the ground.

"Oh yeah! You try lugging that thing around." That response was received with a thrown marshmallow that smacked him in the forehead and a glare form Marissa.

After them came Sara and Ben with leaves in their hair and caked with mud. They promptly sat down and said they didn't want to talk about it. A stick and some marshmallows were passed to them and the group continued roasting marshmallows. Finally, Morgan and Jake came in last place and joined everyone in the campfire.


End file.
